Germany (former East Germany is officially known as GDR = German Democratic Republic) and Namibia share a long painful history, beginning at the end of the 19th century when the country was annexed by Germany. Germany’s actions in the country were extremely cruel, especially against the Herero natives. In 1904, enraged by the almost haphazard killing of their people, the Hereros erupted in war. Their rebellions, however, were brutally suppressed by forces of General Lothar von Trotha, and the Hereros natives were pursued through stretches of barren desert until all but 6,000 of a population of 50,000 perished from either starvation or the skirmishes. This is widely considered to be the first 20th century genocide. All German possessions in Africa were confiscated by a superior Allied military presence from 1914 to 1918.

Let’s wind forward to the year 1989. At midnight of November 9 the wall broke in Berlin. Namibia held UN-monitored elections in November ’89, following nearly a century of power struggles and wars with its neighbors. Nevertheless, the elections did not bring a sufficient number of votes to write a new constitution. They perpetuated serious negotiations between various parties, which led to a successful adoption of a new constitution in February of 1990. Independence was granted the following month, and Germany’s reunification of East and West took place on October 3, 1990. These seemingly unrelated events would link the two countries yet again.

In 1990, 430 Namibian children who grew up in the GDR were sent back “home” to Namibia. “The GDR children of Namibia” had been relocated from 1979 onwards from various refugee camps resulting from the liberation struggle of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) against South Africa’s occupation of Namibia. After the massacre of Cassinga on May 4, 1978—a brutal attack on a refugee camp in Angola by the South African army (600 Namibians were killed)—the SWAPO solicited humanitarian assistance from around the globe. Many countries, including the GDR, provided assistance in the form of education, medical aid and treatment, as well as granting refugee asylum for children and young adults.

Most of these children, who left Namibia at a young age, had spent more than 10 years in Germany without their parents or any contact to their country. They were placed under the supervision of German teachers who were hired by the East German government, and received an education there, being trained as the future elite of Namibia.

As the independence war in Namibia came to an end and the East German government resolved, it became uncertain as to who would continue to finance the stay and education of the children. The children were forced to return home to a place that was “foreign” to them. Most of the children could not even recall what Namibia was like before they had left for Germany. Although most of the returning children were “reclaimed” by parents or other family members and had been exposed during their schooling in Germany to Namibian culture (songs, dance and language), they discovered that they could not identify themselves with their own country, language, or culture. The Namibian population also viewed the children as outsiders. As a result, these children found themselves questioning their identity and forming a separate and new identity influenced by many outside factors that lay somewhere between German and Namibian identities, even in language. This multicultural identity took on the name “GDR- children.”